Crews are clearing trees at a 17.5 acre Woodbury Heights property which last year was approved for 234 rental apartments in 9 buildings, featuring 34 affordable units.
Located at Chestnut and Academy Roads in a quiet suburban area of the borough, the property previously was home to a large door fabrication business and warehouse. That business had closed years ago and in 2010 the building saw a massive fire which led to its full demolition in 2012.
Called “Academy Pointe” in submitted documents, the apartment project site plan was approved last July after a two-part Planning Board meeting which saw over 30 residents speak about the project.

Mostly the borough’s “hands were tied” regarding the proposal as back in 2012 there was litigation regarding an earlier effort to utilize the property for residential development, to which a state court approved an agreement for the development.
Effectively the project was approved 12 years prior, and the hearing in 2024 was focused on the site plan design and accommodating borough code and adjustments to better fit within the neighborhood.
A Woodbury Heights resolution regarding the approval says that there were no real variances needed for the development of the project although the community and borough did ask for an 8-foot high fence along Academy Road, which while not requested by the developer still needed approval of the board.

Gloucester County documents show that in November the property deed was transferred to a company affiliated with developer Greystar for the sum of $5,023,980.
An interesting side note to this property is the proposed Glassboro-Camden Rail Line (GCL) project had targeted this same property for the development of a Vehicle Maintenance Facility, which was expected to support light-maintenance and vehicle storage.
It would seem that with the Woodbury Heights approval (backed by state courts) and subsequent property sale to the developer, would make the property unavailable to the GCL train efforts.
This is the second GCL targeted property lost recently to faster moving commercial development… In November I wrote about two warehouses (approved) that would be developed at the site of the planned Mantua-Pitman GCL train station, directly impacting a planned parking area.

Greystar Apartments – Woodbury Heights
Greystar is a developer based out of South Carolina who last year was designated the largest apartment owner in America. In 2023 they had added 10,000 new units bringing their total direct ownership at the time to 108,566 (which is likely higher given it’s now a year later). Updates at their website state they manage more than one million units and beds.
For the Woodbury Heights project, as mentioned it is 234 units to be developed in nine buildings.
For the 2024 approval it was clearly stated at the beginning of the meeting that the hearing and approval was focused solely on the site plan review and approval as the development was already permitted. The borough was required to allow the project to move forward, which again was due to the state court ruling 12 years prior.

The project includes several amenities such as a pool, tot lot and dog park. The wooded area bordering the Board of Education property (to the North) including the wetlands would remain.
An 8-foot high wooden stockade type fence would be installed along the Academy Avenue property length, with existing trees maintained to the greatest amount that is practicable. If any trees are removed the agreement states they will be replaced in accordance with the landscape plan.
A 6-foot high wooden fence will be constructed along Chestnut Avenue as well as along the railroad railway.
It was agreed that the project would be constructed in one phase and the Community Center would be developed before any residents occupied any apartment.
Additional requirements will see sidewalks to be developed along the entire frontage of Chestnut and Academy Avenues. A separate line item in the borough resolution says the sidewalk and lighting shall be extended to the adjacent school, which if I interpret that correctly means the sidewalk will extend all the way down to Lake Ave in front of a large wooded area.

The Woodbury Heights meeting minutes do a great job of capturing the sentiment of the dozens of residents who spoke of the meeting. Most seemed to be concerned about the traffic from the vehicles owned by the residents in the 234 units. An additional top concern was regarding the borough school system and it’s ability to support the expected new students the apartments will bring to town.
While crews are on site this week clearing trees I don’t know the development timeline for the project or if the developer will immediately roll into full site plan preparation.
Glassboro – Camden Rail Line
As mentioned, at the start of article this property was previously identified by the team behind the Glassboro-Camden Line as a vehicle maintenance facility (VMF).
A proposed diagram presented with the GCL documentation online shows a significant build out for the rail line was expected on this same property, with a large main looping track throughout the entire property. Closer to the existing main railroad tracks the VMF project was to include 8 parallel tracks (likely to support storage of trains), as well as what appears to be the construction of a maintenance building closer to Academy.

Clearly this aspect of the GCL could not be developed here in the Woodbury Heights neighborhood.
Currently the GCL is in its final assessment which will determine all development aspects and associated costs. Ahead of that effort being completed, the GCL team had effectively created a wish list of properties they want to develop on… but up to this point they have not been able to acquire many of the necessary properties.
Last fall a similar GCL project impact took place when a warehouse project was approved that would take over the space allocated to the Mantua-Pitman train station across from the former Sony plant.

It would seem that the Mantua-Pitman train station has some flexibility to be developed on a different property, but this Woodbury Heights VMF facility is a significant project space, and could be more difficult to find a new home for it.
Currently the GCL project is in the Preliminary Design Phase which started in October 2022 and is expected to take three years. This final aspect will prepare preliminary engineering design documents, investigate right-of-way acquisitions and easements, and perform utility investigation and relocation.
I will be reaching out to the Port Authority and GCL team this week to get additional comments on this. Two weeks ago I attended the Southern New Jersey Development Corporation’s meeting where newly appointed NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri spoke for about 10 minutes on aspects of the GCL.
Once I have a chance to chat with the GCL project team this week, I will be writing about the GCL status, challenges and commentary from Kolluri.
Links and Location
Greystar Apartments – Woodbury Heights
523 Chestnut Ave
Woodbury Heights, NJ